"Afterwards they would walk from bookshop to bookshop, and they knew them all, considering the books which, one day, they were going to buy. The very look and smell of them was fascinating, their clean wrappers, the exciting reds, the sombre blues and rich browns. There was a bookshop smell, too - a smell of old settled dust, watered down in layers, printer's ink, and a taint of glue. They would stand close together, looking in through the window .
'We'll have that some day..and that...'
'We must get it in a really good edition,' William would add. 'I like a book that opens decently and has good clear print. I never feel the same about a book I've read in a cheap edition.'
'I'd sooner have a cheap edition than no edition at all,' Catherine would argue." Elizabeth Cambridge Hostages to Fortune
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Are you a Catherine or William as far as books are concerned?
A Catherine definitely. And what a perfect day that would be - just wandering from bookshop to bookshop. The weather wouldn't matter then! Hmm, a trip to Hay on Wye may be necessary sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteTonia - Yes & then to sit on a quiet sofa & read them!
DeleteA Catherine too, I'd much rather read something brilliant than not. I love Daunts, if they did rooms...
ReplyDeleteLilac - Yes if they did rooms, or a delightful cafe adjacent to the book shop.
DeleteAnother Catherine here too :)
ReplyDeleteDesperate Reader - Do you think most bookish bloggers are Catherine's?
DeleteI'm mostly a Catherine, but I do like nice editions if I can get them. I refuse to check out some library books because they are just too ugly!
ReplyDeleteAnbolyn - Your library comment made me smile. Hope you don't have to refuse any today.
DeleteMore of a William and abit of an Anbolyn, I would say. ;)
ReplyDeleteI don't mind so much if it's a cheap edition so long as it's not ugly to me! I'd rather wait for the right edition to come along than to read an ugly one.
Michelle - Hello! Oh yes definitely not an ugly edition, though if there's no other I will read a less than aesthetically pleasing one, I ended up doing that with Dr. Zhivago.
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